The Chicago Bulls have talked with the Toronto Raptors about trading Carlos Boozer for Andrea Bargnani. Bringing in Bargnani would add an offensive weapon for Chicago, but the deal would do far more harm than good for the Bulls.

This is a good opportunity for the Celtics to get a victory tonight. They Lakers are ailing and the Celtics should be able to take advantage of their weakness in transition and on the glass to get the ball in the open court for easy baskets. Nonetheless, the Celtics will have to play good perimeter defense and move the ball in the half court to beat a Lakers team led by Kobe Bryant.

With half of the NBA season gone, the serious candidates for MVP are emerging. Defending winner LeBron James is very much in the mix, but other stars such as Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul will give him a run for his money.

LeBron James and the 28-12 Miami Heat will face the 20-23 Boston Celtics, led by Rajon Rondo. The showdown takes place at the TD Garden 1:00 EST live on ABC. It is the second of three meetings between the two rival teams who met in the last Eastern Conference Finals.

When the Oklahoma City Thunder (34-10) visits the Los Angeles Lakers (18-25) at 3:30 ET, they will be a 3½-point favorite. Before the season, both the Thunder and Lakers were regarded as two of the top four or five teams in the NBA, let alone the Western Conference. NBA observers had the Thunder and Lakers on a collision course to face each other in the Western Conference Finals.

The Celtics are going up against the best team in the Eastern Conference. However, the Heat are not without weaknesses and the Celtics can capitalize on these weaknesses by controlling the boards and driving the ball into the paint for easy baskets. They will also need to stick to the defensive game plan and not turnover the basketball on the offensive end to stop the Heat from getting easy baskets. Lastly, Paul Pierce has to snap out of his funk and contribute on both ends of the court for the Celtics to come away with a victory over the Heat.

On Thursday, both Joakim Noah and Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls were named to the NBA's Eastern Conference All-Stars. The Chicago standouts are both playing terrific basketball, but only one deserves the honor this season.